Firefighter stereotype ‘puts women off joining’

MEDIA STEREOTYPES of male firefighters as musclebound sex objects are putting women off joining the service, London Fire Brigade has said.

A quarter of women think men are better equipped to be firefighters, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by the Mayor of London.

Just seven per cent of women thought the same of police officers when asked: “Do you think men are more able to do the job, women are more able to do the job, or they are both equally able?”

Concerns about gender stereotyping have led the LFB to back proposals by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to ban sexist adverts.

London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton called out the most recent series of ITV2 show Love

Island for portraying the “offensive cliche” in its “fireman challenge”. The activity saw male contestants strip down and pretend to save a female from danger, in a sexualised portrayal of the profession.

Ms Cotton, the first woman to hold the LFB’s most senior position, said: “I’m especially concerned about how many young people think firefighting is for men. When popular shows like Love Island roll out every offensive cliche possible with their socalled ‘fireman challenge’, it reinforces the misconception that all firefighters are musclebound men. No wonder so many young women are put off by that.”

The ASA launched a consultation in May which proposed that adverts “must not include gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence”. The results will be published later this year.